With the new Conan film reboot arriving in theaters this month, Funcom is gearing up to establish a vast number of tie-in content. Dubbed The Savage Coast of Turan, the coming adventure pack adds a great outdoor playfield and over 50 new quests to the gameworld, not to name two solo instances, a team instance, a new raid, and plentitude of new gear.
Join us after the cut as we present Funcom's internally produced look at the brainchild behind all the new content, and stay tuned to Massively this weekend for some exclusive Savage Coast news as good as an Anvil of Crom interview with game director Craig Morrison.
The Savage Coast of Turan is a new adventure pack for Age of Conan that will find players exploring the metropolis of Ardashir and its environment as they enter on an epic adventure full of political intrigue, backstabbing, ancient evils, scheming priests, pirates, generals and other disreputable types that visit the Turanian coasts of the Vilayet sea their home.
So what goes into creating an adventure pack like this? What are the inspirations, and what does the development team look at when it's creating another of the regions of Hyboria?
Adventure packs
So why go for a smaller adventure pack format rather than a larger expansion? "It was primarily determined by the fact that we would wish to make smaller updates more often," producer Per Storlkken explains. "A broad expansion on the shell of Rise of the Godslayer can have over a class to produce and often means you don't get to concentrate on live content as much. Taking this approach has a few advantages. Firstly, players get more content more often, and I suppose everyone appreciates that. Secondly, in the longer term, it will provide us to see more corners of Hyboria.
"One of the strengths of the licence is that it is a very diverse world, and I would rather we get to see a wider diversity of position in the future, rather than having a larger set of substance in exactly one area. I know what we managed to accomplish with Khitai; it did look like a coherent land, but as Howard's original stories are very episodic, we wanted to run toward that sort of an approach, so over time, we get to see more of those locations."Movie tie-in
The ingroup is also heavily influenced by the upcoming Conan the Barbarian motion picture from Lionsgate and Paradox, starring Jason Momoa as the great barbarian. The new adventure pack allows us to revisit characters from the film and get up with them some 20 days on. Players will fight alongside Artus as he fights to prevent his brotherhood together, and they'll help the master Thief Ela-Shan establish a new thieves guild in the imperial city of Ardashir.
Funcom will likewise be introducing a serial of large new social armors inspired directly from the art design of the new movie. This takes advantage of the large new vanity armor feature that was launched with the new Age of Conan: Unchained version. This allows players to cut their visual appearance regardless of the armor they want to bear to better their statistics and build.
Inspirations
Game director Craig Morrison explains a little more around the inspirations that have gone into working on The Wild Coast of Turan. "The new content also allows us to research and take inspiration from some of Robert E. Howard's original Conan tales. Players will get to see the dangerous Island of Iron Statues from Iron Shadows on the Moon, and another ancient foe will make an appearance when the players uncover one of the pack's main mysteries.
"After the loose lore-based links in Rise of the Godslayer -- which was often more broadly based around the short encounter Conan had with Yag Kosha in the Tower of the Elephant - the Savage Coast of Turan allows us to get a little more of a literal approach in translating the original Howard tales, in particular Iron Shadows of the Moon. Fans of the original Conan stories will see themselves mighty in the heart of a familiar tale when they pretend to the island," Morrison says.
Players may still be unfortunate enough to fall front to look with a similar case of foe that once very near killed Conan himself many moons ago.
StorylineNow the power of Aquilonia, Conan cannot always involve himself in the plots that run in rival nations, even if those who once fought at his position are involved. However, that doesn't stop him from sending his loyal subjects to aid an old friend! Players will get themselves dispatched to the metropolis of Ardashir to fill up with Conan's old friend and firm friend Artus, who is now chief of a pirate brotherhood and may take a power struggle on his hands. Exploring this new arena will give up a completely new set of exciting quest lines that will see the player uncover an evil conspiracy and reveal an ancient evil.
In Funcom's tradition of age and compelling storytelling, players will feel themselves plunged into dark political plots, power games, and the machinations of would-be dictators, kings and warlords. In a city where the thieves and pirates may be the most reliable allies you have, you experience to see your game and preserve your blade close!
Conan himself rarely had any allowance for the depravity and wickedness that was integral in the so-called 'civilizations' of Hyboria, and Ardahsir is about a microcosm of everything our favorite barbarian despised about the earth about him.
"It is something that we consider seriously," Morrison says. "It is actually one of the key elements to reason the concept behind much of Robert E. Howard's writing. Conan was in many ways a very genuine character. He wears his eye on his arm and is brutally honest. He had little time for those who would dodge and game and exploit others; his hate of these elements of society drives a lot of the difference in the original stories and actually dictates whom Conan chooses to ally himself with. In many ways, while he is distinctly an anti-hero, it is likewise the face of his character that still appeals to this day. He cuts through the crap, disregards politics, and acts as his heart dictates. That is something that is really right and is a real interesting way for us to research the existence of Hyboria."
Content
The adventure pack features a massive new outdoor playfield that encompasses the metropolis of Ardashir and the surrounding coastline and contains two new solo instances, a new team instance, and new raid encounters. Funcom really wanted to cover the old "something for everyone" challenge by providing one strong exercise of each playstyle preference for content. Thus the team tried to create these substantial additions for each category.
The country round the metropolis of Ardashir is massive and forms the main outdoor area for capacity in the adventure pack. Level-wise, it is aimed at players in the level 50 range. Funcom already offers existing players a free level 50 second character already, and this will be usable again so that veterans can plunge right into the narrative content as well. This was an expanse that the team really wanted to add to message to, and the Wild Coast pack will append the existing progression areas nicely, adding another option for players that improves the kind of content available. Offering over 50 quests, this country will allow many hours of great message and hopefully become a favourite destination for those progressing through their dangerous careers in the brutal lands of Hyboria.
There will be a dynamic solo instance in the form of Dead Man's Hand - it adjusts to the charge of the players, so anyone level 50-80 can relish it. There's also a level 80 team instance that sees players taking on the power of the Turanian military in Fort Ardashir, a level 80 solo instance in the aforementioned Isle of Iron Statues, and finally a brand-new raid area with three different boss encounters behind the impressive visage of the Temple of Erlik.
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